Parenting in the Age of Technology

I recently read an article by Nick Bilton in the New York Times http://nyti.ms/Y7Qk7R entitled “The Child, the Tablet and the Developing Mind.” He writes on technology and the “Bits” blog for the Times. I was particularly struck by his response to a question his sister asked. She was talking about how she lets her children use iPads at the dinner table when she doesn’t want to. “If it keeps them occupied for an hour so we can eat in peace and more importantly not disturb other people in the restaurant..”  She asked him, “Do you think that it’s bad for...

The Petraeus Affair

  The Petraeus Affair   Barry G. Ginsberg, PhD   The New York Times reported Sunday, November 11, 2012 (page 18), on the emerging news story about the surprising resignation of General David Petraeus, the Director of the CIA. The story, though still cloudy, was revealed after he admitted to having an affair with his biographer. The article stated that when he began his job at the CIA, he and his wife moved in to a home in Virginia and it was “”the closest thing to a normal life together that they had in years.” The article stated further, “after...

Filial Therapy Webinar Now Available

I just reviewed my Webinar, Child-Centered Filial Family Therapy: An Attachment-Based, Emotion Focused and Skill Training Family Therapy A GoodTherapy.com Webinar October 5, 2012.  I like it and think that it contains a lot of good information.  I gave a lot of attention to the principles and values that guide the therapy.  GoodTherapy.org has generously offered two month free membership that will make the Webinar available.  If you would like to listen to it, please follow these directions:   GoodTherapy.org members may access the recording of Dr. Ginsberg’s CE...

Upcoming Webinar on October 5, 2012

Organized by GoodTherapy.org Filial Therapy: A Child-Centered, Attachment-Based, Emotion Focused, and Skill Training Family Therapy Presented by Barry G. Ginsberg, Ph.D. Web Conference Description In the 1960’s, Filial Therapy began as a dramatic challenge to prevailing approaches for mental health services for children. Not only did Filial Therapy include parents but Bernard G. Guerney, Jr. and his wife, Louise Fisher Guerney (the originators of Filial Therapy) believed that training parents to learn child-centered play therapy was an effective way to treat child...

Improving couples’ attachment security, ...

Working with couples and families requires a different stance from working with individuals. I like that I can experience the relationship dynamics directly by being in the same room with the couple. It’s so different seeing the dynamics in action as opposed to having one individual describe it to you from her or his view. With couples work, you can witness how quickly one person’s response is cued by the other. Before you know it — before the couple knows it, for that matter — they launch into defensiveness and negativity almost as if you weren’t there. When...

Filial Therapy Helps Parents and Childre...

“It was 1969, and I had just received my master’s degree in clinical school psychology. Here I was, dragging my family (wife and three children) to State College, Pennsylvania, to enter a doctoral program in child development and family relationships. Unbeknownst to me, a group of clinical researchers from Rutgers University were joining the faculty. They were led by Louise F. Guerney and Bernard G. Guerney, Jr., and had just completed a major research project on filial therapy funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. I had never heard of filial therapy....

Take Back Your Wedding

I highly recommend a book called Take Back Your Wedding.  An essential read.  Buy it today! As Dr. William Doherty and his daughter, Elizabeth Doherty Thomas, say in their e-book, Take  Back  Your Wedding, “Planning a wedding is one of the hardest things you will do in your life, and one of the most thrilling when it all comes together. “With the possible exception of building a house together, there is nothing in a couple’s life that involves more decisions, small and large, than a wedding.” They wrote this book out of their own experience during Elizabeth’s...

Check Out My Post On A Great New Blog

I was a guest blogger for Two Peds in a Pod.  Enjoy my article, Not Small Talk: How to Explain Big Topics to Young Children Whether you are discussing after dinner cleanup or explaining a complex issue such as an impending divorce, keep in mind talking to a young child is not the same as talking to a  “little adult.” It’s important to be receptive to what we call teachable moments. Be prepared to respond when you perceive that your child is ready and then follow your child’s lead. Here’s such a moment: Johnny, age three, asks Sam, his dad,...